New Kenya Party

The New Kenya Party was a political party in Kenya.

History

With encouragement from List of [colonial governors of Kenya|Governor] Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron [Howick of Glendale|Evelyn Baring] and Secretary of State for the Colonies Alan Lennox-Boyd, the New Kenya Group was established on 2 April 1959 by Michael Blundell. It was the first multi-racial political party in Kenya, and was founded to counter African nationalism and European conservatism. In response, Llewellyn Briggs set up the United Party in August 1959, which opposed common-roll elections, but was defunct by the end of 1960.
In 1960 it became the New Kenya Party, which called for independence with a multiracial coalition government. In the Kenyan [general election, 1961|1961 general elections] the party received 3.2% of the vote, winning four of the 53 elected seats in the Legislative [Council of Kenya|Legislative Council], and joined the coalition government led by the Kenya African Democratic Union.
The party was dissolved in 1963.